Archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America  
ELCA Regional Archives with Global Mission Materials
There are nine regional archives with sixteen archives sites. Some of the regions are subdivided by geographical area. If you wish further information on how to contact these archives, please consult our web page or staff at the churchwide archives can provide you with contact information.

Note: Only global missions related holdings are listed. These lists are not intended to represent the regional archives' complete collection.

Region 1 - Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington ELCA Region 1 Archives
Archives and Special Collections
Mortvedt Library
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, Washington
(253) 535-7586
No global missions archival material.
Region 2 - Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming ELCA Region 2 Archives
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
Berkeley, California
(510) 524-5264
Photographs of missionaries.

These photographs were part of the General Synod's "India and Africa Photographs" issued by the General Literature Committee of the Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the Lutheran Church, 1893.

Miss Katherine Fahs, India (wearing nurse's uniform)
Miss Mary Knauss, India
Dr. Mary Baer, India
Miss Jessie Brewer, India
Miss (no name given) Sanford, India
Mrs. Anna E. Day, Africa
Rev. George Goll, Africa
Mrs. George Goll, Africa

Region 3 - Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota ELCA Region 3 Archives
Luther Seminary
St. Paul, Minnesota
(651) 641-3205
Note: We have listed only the holdings from Region 3 that are related to global missions. If there is an exception it is noted in the paragraph explaining the holdings of a particular record group. For detailed information on specific global missions holdings, please contact the Region 3 Archives.
Record Group 1 - ELCA, 1988-present

Global missions - Tanzania and Liberia, 1950-present 15.0 cu. ft.

Record Group 2 - Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1916-1960

World missions, 1890-present 86.0 cu. ft.
China, 1890-1948 45.0 cu. ft.
Hong Kong, 1948-present 7.0 cu. ft
Taiwan, 1948-1985 8.0 cu. ft.
Japan, 1891-1990 10.0 cu. ft
Madagascar, 1890-1990 16.0 cu. ft.
South Africa, 1894-1998 15.0 cu. ft.
Tanzania, 1935-1975 5.0 cu. ft.
Cameroon, 1917-1987 14.0 cu. ft
Nigeria, 1950-1962 1.0 cu. ft
South America, 1950-1988 3.0 cu. ft.
India, Santal Mission, 1890-1985 4.0 cu. ft.
Liberia, 1950-1962 1.0 cu. ft.
Women's Missionary Federation, 1917-1963 68.0 cu. ft.

Record Group 3 - Norwegian Synod, 1851 - 1917

This group has an extensive collection of documentation of the Norwegian Synod's efforts in international mission work. Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota and Luther College in Decorah, Iowa were the main educational institutions with mission work in China and South Africa. For this particular record group, all contents were listed. For detailed information on specific global mission holdings, please contact the Region 3 Archives.

Folke Kalendar, 1858 - 1917 1.0 cu. ft
Synodal Beretninger 6.0 cu. ft.
Church Council, Minutes 8.0''
Charities, 1989 - 1920 1 vol.
Pensions, 1913 - 1919 4.0''
Home Missions, 1898 - 1906 1 vol.
Publications, Lutheran Publishing House, 1905 - 1915 6.0"
Special Services, Choral Union, 1905 - 1915 1 fol.
Circuits & Districts, Scrapbook, 1904 1.0 cu. ft.

Record Group 4 - Hauge Synod, 1876-1917

The Hauge Synod collection is comprised mainly of annual reports and domestic and international mission endeavors. For this particular record group, all contents were listed. For detailed information on specific global missions holdings, please contact the Region 3 Archives.

Incorporation and real property, 1858 - 1917 1 fol.
Annual reports, 1875 - 1917 2 vols.
Education, 1906 - 1917 1 vol.
Publications, 1877 - 1909 3 vols.
Home Mission, Cashbook, 1906 - 1913 1 vol.
Mission Dove of Hauge's Synod/WMF, 1901-1917 1 vol.

Record Group 5 - United Norwegian Lutheran Church, 1890-1917

Foreign Missions, 1894 - 1917 4.0 cu. ft.
Women's Missionary Federation, 1911 - 1915 8.0 cu. ft.

Record Group 9 - Lutheran Free Church, 1897-1960

Lutheran Board of Foreign Missions, 1891-1963 12.0 cu. ft.
Madagascar 6.0 cu. ft.
Japan 2.5 cu. ft.
China 3.5 cu. ft.
Women's Missionary Federation, 1915 - 1963 8.0 cu. ft.

Record Group 10 - Lutheran Cooperation, 1871-1975

Lutheran Orient Mission, 1920-1975 13.0 cu. ft.

Record Group 11 - Personal Papers, 1865-present

The following persons were at one time, according to records at the churchwide archives, missionaries in the Lutheran Church. To ascertain if their papers contain any references to mission work, please contact the Region 3 Archives.

Dyrnes, Johannes Olsen, 1867-1943 - missionary to Madagascar 1899-1943 - 15"
Helland, Melvin Andreas, 1896-1979 - missionary to Madagascar 1919-1963 - 12"
Jones, Clara, 1900 - missionary to China 1938-1945 - 12"
Larsen, N. Astrup (Nikolai A.), 1878-1961 - missionary to China 1913-1927 - 5"
Martinson, Cora, 1902 - missionary to China 1937-1942, 1947-1949 - 120"
Nesdal, Sivert, 1875-1962 - missionary to Madagascar 1912-1940 - 2.5"
Trygstad, Wilhelm, missionary to Madagascar 1905-1951 2.0"

Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary Collection

The records for what was formerly the Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary are also kept at the Region 3 Archives. In 1982, this seminary merged with Luther Seminary. It was known as Luther Northwest Theological Seminary until 1994 when the name changed to Luther Seminary.

Record Group 3 - Administration

Curriculum & Educational Adjuncts
Mission Conferences, 1965 - 1975 2.0 cu. ft. 

Region 4 - Arkansas and Oklahoma

 

Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod ELCA
Tulsa, Oklahoma
(918) 747-8617
No global missions archival material.
Region 4 - Kansas and Missouri

 

Bethany College
Wallerstedt Learning Center
Linsborg, Kansas
(785) 227-3311
Information not yet available.
Region 4 - Texas and Louisiana Texas Lutheran University
Seguin, Texas
(830) 372-8021
Kraushaar Papua New Guinea Collection:
Correspondence and scrapbook.

Dr. Kraushaar was a pastor in the Iowa Synod congregation in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He visited the Papua New Guinea mission area in 1926 as a member of the Iowa Synod's mission board. For many years the Iowa Synod supported the work in Papua New Guinea before the Lutheran church in the United States sent its own missionaries.

Region 4 - Nebraska

 

Nebraska Synod ELCA
Omaha, Nebraska
(402) 896-5311
No global missions archival material.
Region 5 - Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan ELCA Region 5 Archives
Dubuque, Iowa
(319) 589-0320
Information not yet available.
Region 6 - Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio ELCA Region 6 Archives
Trinity Lutheran Seminary
Columbus, Ohio
(614) 235-4136
Record Group #: 40/13 Accession #: 93/2
Title: Kuder, John H.F. re: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea

Rev. John Kuder was a missionary to Papua New Guinea for the American Lutheran Church from 1934 through 1973.

One legal-sized accession box contains the following folders:

Self Study and New Policy Direction for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea, June 1975
Declaration of Autonomy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea, July 2, 1976
Sios Kaunsil Minits, 1976-1985
Fainens Bod Minits, 1977
Gut Nius Bod Miting: Minits, 1977
Melanesian Council of Churches: Minutes of Executive Meeting..., June 8, 1977

Region 7 - New York, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, New England, except Metropolitan New York Synod and Slovak-Zion Synod: Northeast Regional Archives, ELCA
Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(215) 248-6383
Archives of the General Council (1866 - 1918): Records of the foreign mission board
Personal papers of J.C.F. Heyer, first foreign missionary sent out by the Pennsylvania Ministerium.
Ministerium of Pennsylvania archives:

A Certain amount of correspondence regarding foreign missions activity from the time they sent their first missionary until the organization of the General Council. But according to the Region 7 archivist, the body of material does not look to contain a significant amount related to global missions.

Region 7 - Metropolitan New York

 

Metropolitan New York Synod, ELCA
Immanuel Lutheran Church
Staten Island, New York
(718) 761-5133
Information not yet available.
Region 8 - Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia-Western Maryland Tri-Synod Archives
Thiel College
Greenville, Pennsylvania
(724) 589-2131
4 boxes of artifacts from George Gesler, missionary to Liberia 1929-1936, and India 1936 - 1968.
These artifacts were presented to Thiel College and/or the Tri-Synod Archives in June of 1981.

Artifacts from Liberia:

1. Five leather bags - Hausea tribal work; 1 leather hat
2. Seventeen woven grass bags
3. Liberian wooden stool
4. Native clothes - tribal leader's clothing, undergarments, shirt, bag
5. Liberian hammock and hammock cords
6. Liberian woven basket
7. Model wooden mortar for grinding household spices
8. Water jug
9. Leather sandals
10. Monkey skins
11. Diana monkey skins
12. Two snake hides
13. Leather belt-silver buckle
14. Two buffalo horns - medicine containers for medicine men
15. African coconut
16. African chief's fly whisk
17. African game
18. African dish
19. Liberian axe
20. Liberian hoe
21. Four Liberian hunting spears - two leopard skin wrappings
22. Leather crops - carried by people of status and authority
23. Liberian money - used by tribes in the "interior" - 20 equaled one English shilling.
24. Liberian sword
25. Hunting knife
26. Two brass country dancers - one on stilts
27. French Senegal knife model - used for letter opener
28. Two East Arica Masai tribe spear heads
29. East Africa instrument for beheading a sacrificial animal.

Artifacts from India:

1. Indian gypsy woman doll
2. School girl doll (before onset of menses) traditionally wears skirt and blouse
3. Muslim woman doll wearing purdah
4. Indian woman doll with caste mark wearing sari
5. Winnowing fan for winnowing out rice chaff
6. Bamboo made into letter opener
7. Oil lam-coconut or castor oil for in homes or temples
8. Two decorative hanging plates printed on sheet steel by Indian artists
9. Three birds carved from buffalo horn - one on rosewood; one on buffalo horn
10. Clay thankoffering pot used by women of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran women's organization.
11. Indian cotton and areca nut garlands
12. Woven grass fans and mats

1951 English edition of a history of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church and a copy of the obituary for Rev. Martin Luther Dolbeer (missionary to India 1921 - 1953) as it appeared in the 1976 Proceedings of the Western Pennsylvania-West Virginia Synod of the Lutheran Church in America.
Region 8 - Central Pennsylvania, Delaware-Maryland & Metropolitan Washington, DC A.R. Wentz Library
Seminary Ridge
Lutheran Theological Seminary
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
(717) 334-6286
No global missions archival material.
Region 9 - North Carolina ELCA North Carolina Synod
Salisbury, North Carolina
(704) 633-4861
Record Group 1.5.0.B - North Carolina Synod - Foreign Missions

1 - large, hardcover record book; handwritten notes pasted on cover re "1915 April Japan Day", "Epiphany - Japan Day, 1912, and [?] School Campaign", "Emergency Mission Circle:, n.d. Handwriting appears to be that of Reverend Robert C. Holland (1840 - 1915), member and General Secretary, Board of Foreign Missions, United Synod South, 1906 - 1915. First pages in record book were used for St. Mark's Church's, Charlotte, North Carolina, Luther League meeting minutes . Dr. Holland was pastor of that church from 1898 - 1906. This may account for these minutes being in the front of this record book.

Exchange of letters between Reverend L. Grady Cooper, American Lutheran Mission, Shantung, China, February 27, 1939, and Dr. J.L. Morgan, June 12, 1939, with two snapshots of native ordained pastors (5), 1 with the Reverend. P.P. Anspach (ULCA missionary to China 1925 - 1942, 1946 - 1947)

Record Group 2.1.5.A - Dr. Mary Clara Sullivan

Dr. Sullivan was a ULCA missionary to China 1929 - 1943, 1947 - 1952: For specific information on the holdings in this record group, please contact the North Carolina Synod Archives directly.

Note: The following are global missions related record groups at the North Carolina Synod Archives. These may or may not contain relevant information. Please contact the North Carolina Synod Archives directly for specific holdings information.

Record Group 2.1.1 Evangelical Lutheran Synod Missionary Society of North Carolina (1828 - 1834)
Record Group 2.1.2 Missionary & Education Society (1834 - 1886)
Record Group 2.1.3 Women's Home & Foreign Missionary Society (1886 - 1916)
Record Group 2.1.4 Women's Missionary Society ULCA (1916 - 1956)
Record Group 2.1.7 WMS, ULCA/LCW - Districts and Conferences
Record Group 2.1.8 WMS, ULCA/LCW - Congregations
Record Group 2.2.0 Children's Missionary Society (1897 - 1921)
Record Group 2.5.0 Young People's Missionary Society (1900 - 1910)

Region 9 - Alabama, Florida-Bahamas, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina Tennessee, and the Caribbean James R. Crumley, Jr. Archives
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
Columbia, South Carolina
(803) 786-5150
Rev. A.J. Stirewalt & Family Records, 1930-1968: 3.0 cu. ft.
Diaries, photographs, letters and sermons from Japan.
Rev. C.M. Fisher Records, 1963-1977 bulk; 3.0 cu. ft.
Letters and writings from Malaya;
LWF and Board for World Missions materials;
LCMS minutes and constitutions;
Asian artifacts and books; 3.0 cu. ft.
Unidentified materials, presumably from Japan, Korea and China (NOTE: A visiting professor from Japan was scheduled to inventory these May 30, 2001).
Rev. William P. Peery Records, date unknown;
Bible, hymnal and service book in Telegu language (used in India, Pakistan and Ceylon).
Rev. John K. Linn Records, 1915-1942 .25 cu. ft.
Member Board of Missions, New York - letters.
Miscellaneous annual meeting minutes and reports 1.0 cu. ft.
Including Japan Lutheran Missionaries Association 1947-1959;
ULCA Japan Mission 1919-1931;
Santal Mission Northern India 1963-1969.
Minutes from the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Tennessee 1 linear ft.
Includes, minutes from the Women's Missionary Society.
Minutes from the United Lutheran Church in America 1918 - 1962 5.1 linear ft.
Global missions-related holdings include reports from seven mission areas.
Minutes from the United Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1886
Printed minutes of the synod which include global missions-related 2 volumes, 5 items
Material pertaining to the Women's Missionary Conference. Some Women's Missionary Conference minutes are included in synod reports.
Additional global missions-related material may be scattered throughout the archives in the records of synods and congregations. Further information on the holdings of the Region 9 archives can be please obtained by contacting the archives directly.
Region 9 - Virginia

 

ELCA Virginia Synod
Salem, Virginia
(540) 389-5962
No global missions archival material.
See also:  ELCA Seminaries
ELCA Colleges and Universities
Non-ELCA Institutions

Please contact the ELCA Archives at archives@elca.org with comments or questions.
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